18/8.] MR. F. DAY ON FEAR AND ANGER IN FISHES. 21" 



small ones together in a glass vessel gave one away ; the other 

 refused to eat, and showed evident symptoms of unhappiness until 

 his companion was restored : Pennant, how the River-Bullhead 

 " deposits its spawn in a hole it forms in the gravel, and quits it 

 with great reluctance :" General Hardwicke, how the Gouramy 

 (Osphromenus olfax), in the Mauritius, forms a nest amongst the 

 herbage growing in the shallow water in the sides of tanks. Here 

 the parents continue to watch the place with the greatest vigilance, 

 driving away any interloping fish. The amphibious walking fish of 

 Mysore (Ophiocephalus striatus) appears to make a nest very 

 similar to that of the Gouramy, and over it the male keeps guard ; 

 but should he be killed or captured, the vacant post is filled by his 

 partner (Colonel Puckle). When very young the fishes keep with, 

 and are defended by their parents, but so soon as they are suffi- 

 ciently strong to capture prey for themselves they are driven away 

 to seek their own subsistence (see ' Fishes of India,' p. 362). But 

 it is not only these monogamous amphibious fishes which show an 

 affection for their eggs and also for their fry, but even the little 

 Etroplus maculatus has been observed to be equally fond of its ova. 

 ' The eggs are not very numerous, and are deposited in the mud at 

 the bottom of the stream, and, when hatched, both parents guard 

 their young for many days, vigorously attacking any large fish that 

 passes near them' \ 



" Although the proceedings of the members of the marine and 

 estuary genus Arius and its allies show not quite so distinctly signs 

 of affection, still it must be a well-developed instinct which induces 

 the male to carry about the eggs in his mouth until hatched, and to 

 remove them in this manner when danger is imminent. I have taken 

 the ova just ready for the young to come forth out of the mouth and 

 fauces of the parent (male) fish ; and in every example dissected there 

 was no trace of food in the intestinal tract. 



" At many temples in India fishes are called to receive food by 

 means of ringing bells or musical sounds. Carew, in Cornwall, is said 

 to have called his Grey Mullet together by making a noise like chop- 

 ping with a cleaver. Lacepede relates that some fishes, which had 

 been kept in the basins of the Tuileries for more than a century, 

 would come when called by their names, and that, in many parts of 

 Germany, Trout, Carp, and Tench are summoned to their food bv 

 the sound of a bell. These instances are doubtless mostly due to 

 the fishes having learnt by experience that on the hearing certain 

 sounds they may expect food. But Lacepede mentions that some 

 were able to distinguish their individual names; and the same occurs 

 in India. Lieutenant Conolly remarked upon seeing numerous fishes 

 coming to the Ghaut at Sidhnath to be fed when called ; and on 

 ' expressing our admiration of the size of the fish, "Wait," said a 

 bystander, " until you have seen Raghu." The Brahmin called out 

 his name in a peculiar tone of voice ; but he would not hear. I 

 threw in handful after handful of ottah (flour) with the same 

 success, and was just leaving the ghaut, despairing and doubting, 

 1 Jerri on, ' Madras Journal of Literature anrl Science,' 1849. p. 143. 



